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Emma Jane Bemister (1855-1933)

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Born in 1855,  Emma Jane was the fifth in a family of seven - a family  who tragically lost their mother, Mary Elizabeth (Bartlett) Bemister (1823-1857), when Emma was two, and their father, Capt. Willis Bemister (1819-1869), when Emma was fourteen.  The orphaned family went to live with various relatives.  Their mother's sister, Dorcas Bartlett had married William Bemister, a brother of their father, so they had double cousins and other close relatives. Family tradition indicates the children were raised by various relatives.

Some children may have lived with their Uncle William and Aunt Dorcas and the double cousins, but it appears that Emma Jane lived with the family of Hon. John Bemister, her Uncle John and Aunt Jane, who lived in both Harbour Grace and St. John's at various time. John retired from politics in 1870 to accept the position of Sheriff of the Northern District.  Living in a politically active home she met and married Capt. Edward White Jr. who likewise had been raised in a political house in St. John's and like his father, the Hon. Edward White Sr. would lead a politically active life along with being a sea captain and merchant in Newfoundland.
   

While her father-in-law, Edward White Sr., had lived for many years in a large double house on the South Side in St. John's he ensured that Emma Jane and Edward Jr. would continue to have accommodation nearby when he constructed The New House, a two family house for sons Richard and Edward,  a home that is still proudly occupied by descendants of Richard White. The building of Emma and Edward's house is told best by their grandnephew Dr. George Story, who grew up in the house and purchased the other side of the house when it fell out of family hands. He published his research through Building a St. John's Victorian House.

Emma Jane and Edward White Jr. had a family of eight of which five survived childhood. Emma Jane lived to the age of seventy-eight having been widowed for twenty-five years when she died in 1933. Through her son Walter and daughter Alice and their families, descendants are now living across Canada, in Mexico, and Australia.

"Taken about 1898. Standing left to right - Daisy, Walter, May. Bottom, Mother [Emma Jane (Bemister) White], Alice, Minnie, Father [Capt. Edward White Jr.]" identified by - Walter E. White (1879-1969) St. John's NFLD